The snow and icy conditions in the past week have kept almost one in five (19 per cent) people off the road because they were afraid of driving, it states. A further 2.3 million (5 per cent) people tried to take to the roads but were unable to because of ice on the roads. Some 12 per cent of people took trains, tubes and buses instead of driving because they felt it was the safer option.

Miranda Schunke, spokesperson for Green Flag, said: “It is not only the roads that have been frozen in the last week, for millions work commitments have been put on ice.”

Over 3.8 million people have missed at least a full day of work in the last week alone as a result of the arctic weather conditions. Over 590,000 people missed at least two days of work in the last week, according to the research.